Your Right to Know

Mayor Michael B. Coleman left the stage after a somber election-night speech, shared a “
what-can-you-do” shrug with his political buddies and then walked to the bar inside the Hilton
Columbus Downtown with his girlfriend.

In his 15 years as mayor — the longest tenure in Columbus’ history — Coleman rarely has felt
defeat. The resounding loss of the Columbus City Schools levy he backed was the largest in his
political career.

Coleman has spent the past several weeks regrouping and figuring out what’s next.

In an interview last week, he said that he is not giving up his efforts to overhaul a district
that “is failing children.”

This year, he also wants to educate more adults to reduce the city’s growing poverty rate and
boost family median incomes that lag the state and nation.

Columbus City Schools

Coleman said the public will not approve a school levy until significant reforms are made.
Any blame, he said, rests with a school board that “didn’t have its act together.” Until the
district regains the public’s trust, there are no plans for another school levy, Coleman said.

Yet, he said, “Education still remains my No. 1 priority, and I am not walking away from it.
Anyone who thinks that doesn’t really know me.”

The city is budgeting an unprecedented $7.5 million to help with some of the district reforms,
and Coleman will name a new cabinet member in the next week who will be his director of education.
That person will act as an ex-officio member of the school board.

The rest of the education initiatives will be announced at his State of the City address on Feb.
19, he said.

There have been fallout and change in the wake of the levy defeat.

Last week, even as Coleman talked with a reporter about education, Columbus schools announced
that Carol Perkins, the school board president during the levy campaign and the data-scrubbing
scandal that has plagued the district for 18 months, will resign from the board.

Later, two high-ranking school district officials who asked to remain anonymous for fear of
reprisal said that Coleman had urged Perkins to leave in December so that the district could move
forward.

Coleman said through his spokesman that he has “a lot of respect for Carol and would not
instruct her how to conduct her career.”

Gary Baker has taken over as school board president.

Coleman said he wants school Superintendent Dan Good to lead the district for the foreseeable
future. The school board removed “interim” from Good’s title this month and gave him a one-year
contract.

“My confidence in him is strong,” Coleman said during the interview.

Good has taken steps to address fallout from the data scandal, which occurred under his
predecessor, Gene Harris, and implement policies to keep it from happening again. The scandal was
frequently mentioned by levy critics.

Mayor’s other priorities

Teaching needed skills to the unemployed and underemployed also will be a focus this year for
Coleman.

City officials have heard from businesses such as Cardinal Health, Nationwide and JPMorgan Chase
that they are having trouble filling jobs because applicants lack skills.

Coleman thinks that training will lead to higher-paying jobs that will address the city’s high
poverty rate and low median family income.

“While we have the lowest unemployment rate in the state, our poverty rate is ticking up,”
Coleman said. “While we have almost 1 million people employed, the per capita income is less than
the nation and less than the state of Ohio, so it is a contradiction.”

Franklin County’s unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in the latest report in December, a full
point better than the state’s.

Columbus’ median household income improved last year to $43,207. But that remains well behind of
the national average of $51,371, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The census’s American Community Survey produced another grim number: The number of Columbus
children living in poverty increased 1.2 percent to 29,500 last year.

Job postings compiled by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services suggest that workers
lack the skills to fill available positions.

There were 40,800 jobs posted in central Ohio in November. Among the top five available jobs
were licensed truck drivers and retail supervisors, positions that require training above a
high-school diploma.

Computer-analyst jobs are also in abundance.

Coleman said the city also will offer more incentives to help entrepreneurs this year. The goal,
he said, is to help create “more Les Wexners, more Elizabeth Lessners and Jeni Britton
(Bauers)."

Those initiatives also will be unveiled during his State of the City address next month.